This is the first appearance of "Zimbabwe," a signature tune of this period but
not included on any commercial recording until Pangaea (CBS/Sony SOPX 96/7)
in 1976. "Ife" had by now morphed into its more familiar simple form, based throughout
on a four-note riff.
Although the quality of this tape precludes definite identification of personnel,
a contemporary review lists the musicians above. The Davis Tentet played two 40+
minute sets on this date.
Davis replaced Cedric Lawson with Lonnie Liston Smith sometime in February or March,
before leaving New York for a tour of Canada and several U.S. cities: Queen Elizabeth
Hall, Vancouver (March 30); Paramount Theatre, Portland (April 4), Paramount Theatre,
Seattle (April 5); Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles (April 6); Wallace Wade Stadium,
Duke University (April 12); Crampton Auditorium, Washington (April 13);
Greek Theatre, Berkeley
(April 26); Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica (May 1); Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles
(May 2); Bailey Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca (May 4); Pine Knob Musical Theatre,
Detroit (June 9).
I'm grateful to Mark Freeman for helping me clear up the date and venue for this
session. He was even able to tell me that the official attendance at this show was
1057!
This was Pete Cosey's first date with Davis. At the end of the tour, Smith, Balakrishna,
and Roy left the group, and Davis took over the keyboard duties himself. At this
point the next great Davis working group was in place.
|